Selectmen recently approved the application for regional planning agencies to provide services that customarily come in the range of $5,000 to $25,000 for the annual grant.

Somerset was one of about 16 communities applying by the June 30 deadline for this funding round among the 31 within the South Coast Rail Economic Development Corridor, said Jean Fox, Massachusetts Department of Transportation rail project manager.

MassDOT and the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development (EOHED) award the grants and provide funding. Last year they awarded $230,000 in funding, including $15,000 for Somerset, and over the past five years topped $1 million.

Grants likely will be awarded by late August or early September, Fox said.

The Slade’s Ferry district on the west side of the Veterans Memorial Bridge has received funding during all five years of the technical assistance program.

Town Administrator Dennis Luttrell asked the Board of Selectmen to approve this latest submission as part of a special meeting Friday night.

This technical grant would build upon and advance the prior grants, Luttrell wrote.

The last grants were to develop an overlay zoning district that Annual Town Meeting voters approved in May, and the current one to compile a rendering of this mixed-use triangular area between the Taunton River, Brayton Avenue and Newhill Avenue adjacent to the bride.

This recent grant, not completed, allowed the town to hire an architect and continue working with the Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District (SRPEDD) to compile a rendering of identified uses 25 years into the future.

It includes sections of open space MassDOT took by eminent domain during bridge construction and that the state plans to deed back to the town.

At that point, the town could access an $800,000 state transportation bond designated for waterfront development and rail accessibility, officials said.

The four-page application says the town has prioritized redevelopment because area businesses “are reeling from the loss of traffic due to the construction of the Veterans Memorial Bridge and the necessary re-routing of traffic patterns.”

The grant request Luttrell outlined says a market feasibility study “would assist the town in targeting the types of business that would be advantageous to attract to the area for sustainability purposes.”

A study would help determine infrastructure needs and possible build-out for a mixed-use area, the application says. It also notes residential complaints toward truck traffic and the lack of commercial traffic in the old Route 6 business neighborhood that was bustling before the bridge opened two years ago.

The application notes Smart Growth recommendations within the broader rail corridor plan that encourages mixed uses, neighborhood access for bikes and walkers, choices of transportation and housing, as well as “fair and cost effective development and the preservation of open space.”

Page 2 of 2 - Among the technical grant purposes are to piggyback other funding sources and generate private investment into the area, said Donald Sullivan, SRPEDD economic development director working with the town.

Fox said Somerset has made strides in its land use planning linked to rail corridor goals. “Somerset’s been pro-active and we respect the work they’ve done,” said Fox, a former selectwoman from Freetown.